Sabah will make an ideal hub for low-cost carriers
Published on: Saturday, November 10, 2012
By: James Sarda and Mary Chin
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Sabah has the ingredients for it to be positioned as the air hub for the Far East. Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is the second busiest airport in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), handling 5.8 million passengers last year.
The busiest air route between two airports within Malaysia is the Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu sector, followed by the Kuala Lumpur-Kuching sector.
According to State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun, Sabah has a favourable position by virtue of its ideal location in the first place.
"To me, it is already a hub for East Malaysia because we are within five hours away from all the main cities in Asia. Air connectivity is a crucial component of the travel industry.
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"In the case of Sabah, over 94pc of our tourists come by air, and the bulk of tourism revenue is derived from both the domestic and international markets.
"We are positioning KKIA as the second air hub for the region (after KLIA). After all, we are already practising open sky policy," he said.
Travel industry players are calling on the Government to enhance connectivity between Sabah and East Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong and India.
In this regard, Masidi welcomed the announcement that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) would add three international routes from Kota Kinabalu (KK) effective from December this year - 11 months after it suspended four direct international flights linking Sabah with Japan, South Korea and Australia.
This followed the short honeymoon between MAS and AirAsia through a share swap arrangement that was torn up following extensive grilling in Parliament that the deal was only favouring one side.
It was reliably learned that MAS was also negotiating for a direct flight between Shanghai and KK.
Saying all this is good news, the Minister said he had a series of meetings and consultations with the management of MAS in an attempt to work out other options in response to the route cancellations.
"At one stage, we had a meeting every month, sometimes twice a month.
But I must also give credit to my staff in Sabah Tourism Board (STB) for having assisted in this concern.
"So, when I say 'We', I am talking about not just my Ministry but also Sabah Tourism Board.
I must say in all honesty that I have good officers in Sabah Tourism.
"They understand the market and have had good personal relationship with many of those who make decisions. And that facilitated the negotiations we had with MAS," he said.
"They (MAS) told me recently that they are now actively pursuing a revival of the Tokyo flight to Sabah.
It is a matter of securing the slot to land at KKIA."
Asked whether this is a positive outcome of his meetings with MAS, Masidi said he and Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman had met up with MAS even before the announcement of the cancellation of some routes that would affect Sabah's interests.
"MAS actually wanted to brief the CM. It was a briefing on why they wanted to cancel the three international routes."
He also hailed the announcement that the national carrier would raise frequencies to an existing international route from KK.
"It is the KK-Hong Kong sectorÉtwo more weekly services on Wednesdays and Saturdays."
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MAS, he added, was trying its best to accommodate Sabah's needs although the company has not fully recovered from its financial woes.
"Hence, it will take some time for MAS not only to bounce back but also to fully serve all our needs.
But I believe the airline is on its way to profitability."
In addition, China Southern Airlines will launch a non-stop service from its hub Guangzhou to Kota Kinabalu, starting from Oct. 31. It is a positive outcome of a two-year discussion between the airline and Masidi.
"The airline had previously operated chartered flights to Kota Kinabalu."
On the KK-Davao flights supposed to start Nov. 1 this year, he said these also augur well for positioning Sabah as the hub for the Far East.
"Of course, that will connect us with another region. Definitely, it will improve connectivity for the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), and thus bolster tourism."
Masidi was also happy with the outcome of the 7th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Transport Ministers' Meeting with focus on better BIMP-EAGA connectivity plan to enhance the economy.
"However, the other side of the coin is that when we talk about BIMP-EAGA, it's not only about connectivity but also affordability of would-be travellers. With due respect, not everybody can travel by airÉI have said this in all sincerity," he said matter-of-factly.
Citing the Southern Philippines as an example, the Minister said we need to accept the fact that the people there have just emerged from a long warfare.
"So their ability to travel by air is still very much limited.
While we may have the much-needed connectivity over there, that does not mean the population will be able to fly over to our place here."
Last month (September), Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha announced that AirAsia would operate seven flights a week using the Airbus A320 from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) to Davao.
And what about Malindo Air's plan to have a secondary hub in Kota Kinabalu with Asean cities as its target routes?
Said Masidi: "I will only comment when they realise their intention.
We welcome the idea but would like to see the action plan."
Masidi disagrees with claims that there is no democratisation of air travel in Sabah with everything controlled by the Federal Government.
"No, I don't think so. Commercial aviation is basically a business decision.
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To start an airline costs a whopping sum for operations, maintenance and upgrading works.
"Still, there is nothing to stop people from owning an airline.
The current policy opens up the sky to anybody who aspires to be a player in the travel market, including those who have the financial means to start an airline," he said.
"Airline business is all about financial consideration. Is it commercially viable to fly to a particular destination? You have to formulate a successful business model for your airline."
Reacting to "old" complaints that Shenzhen Airlines was not allowed to carry passengers back to China after its chartered flights to Kota Kinabalu, Masidi said we have to view the matter from the national interests point of view.
It was claimed that while the China Government allowed Malaysia Airlines to load passengers from China to KK when it mounted chartered flights to China, the same could not be said of the Malaysian Government.
"Put it this way. The Malaysian Government did not allow Shenzhen Airlines to do so because the China Government also did not allow MAS to pick passengers back to Sabah when it operated chartered flights to China.
It is reciprocal.
"First and foremost, it is one of the rules of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) pertaining to chartered flights.
If everybody opts for chartered flights, it would be unfair to airlines mounting scheduled flights," he explained.
It is understood that the issue has since been amicably addressed for a win-win situation.
According to Masidi, there are presently other airlines operating chartered flights from China such as the China Eastern Airlines.
In July 2012 alone, it had about 16 chartered flights to Kota Kinabalu.
"Following discussions with the China Eastern Airlines, we anticipate more Chinese tourist arrivals via Shanghai. The State Government had talks with the airline on the possibility of flying direct to Kota Kinabalu.
"But there are several issues to be addressed such as passenger load factor and suitable flight times," he pointed out.
Like Shenzhen Airlines, China Eastern Airlines used to fly to Sabah but the flights were subsequently discontinued.